


Prospects

by Legume_Shadow



Series: Whispers (Prequels to the Echoes Series) [4]
Category: Peacemaker Kurogane
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Conspiracies Abound, Duty Before Family and Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-13
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-21 02:23:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2451143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legume_Shadow/pseuds/Legume_Shadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Growing up is never easy, and a trip back home to the heart of Edo shows Souji just how little he knows of the world outside of the dojo.  Meanwhile, a young woman breaks her little brother's heart to ensure that he survives the coming storm, and warnings of things to come are passed to future revolutionaries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First Published: AO3, October 2014. All copyrights apply to the appropriate parties and no profit is being made from this fanwork.

**Part 4: Prospects**

**Chapter 4.0**

_Early Winter 1859_

 

The crunch of a thin layer of winter snow was heard each time Souji took a step, traversing the long roads back to his family's home in the heart of Edo. There were a few people on the streets passing him by, clutching the front of their clothes tighter around themselves, as if to stave off the cold wind the blew by every so often. However, he did no such thing, and instead, enjoyed the crisp air and let it invigorate him. He did, however, occasionally shift the long cloth bag that contained his bokken and shinai, along with the larger bag that contained his practice armor.

Due to on-going repairs being made to several bridges before the heart of winter arrived and spring melts would bring the swelling of water in channels, several bridges had been temporarily closed. Limited foot traffic was allowed through, but the line to cross the bridge that was nearest to where his family's home was, was enormous. It seemed that even the samurai's bridges among the areas where they lived were also being repaired.

Souji could hear the arguments between the workers, merchants, and samurai, and not wanting to get into the middle of a commotion, he turned around and took an alternate path. The path took him through the ever-full markets in this area, but after plodding his way through, careful to ensure that none of the bulky items he was carrying accidentally hit anyone or knocked over any wares, he finally made it out and into less crowded streets.

It was only because that the streets were near the Shogun's castle that they were nearly empty, but today those same streets were full of more people that he remembered. Whispers of 'dark-clad people' and 'training in the gardens' floated by his ears as he made his way down the main thoroughfare that ran parallel to the outer walls of the castle. A smile made its way up his lips as he recognized what the whispers entailed – there was an ongoing open session training being held by a particular shinobi group who served the Shogunate, and who had headquarters here in Edo.

Open session training meant that any person or persons around this area could be a disguised trainee, trainer, or just a curious passerby such as he. From the times he remembered watching such sessions with his friends, it gave shinobi trainees the opportunity to practice their infiltration and detection skills. It had been years since he had seen one, and even though he knew that his family was waiting for him, he decided to head towards where the crowds were the thickest – he was curious to see how the new crop of trainees were doing.

There was also an advantage to witnessing an open training session, and it had nothing to do with shinobi – it was one of the very few times in which a portion of the castle's beautiful gardens were open to the public (or to whomever happened to pass by). Souji had never seen the garden in the winter, and he could only imagine what it looked like with snow covering the majestic place.

Crossing the outer wall's gate, he slowed his pace down and looked around, enjoying the view of snow-covered bare trees, along with slopes of wheat-colored grass that ran into the large moat that separated the outer walls from the first of many inner ones. As he slowly crossed the bridge, he couldn't help but grin, seeing the tiny snow islets being created by the small rocks that poked out of the moat. It looked like someone had taken a small brush and painted the moat a certain way to give it a refreshingly soothing feeling.

“Composing a haiku?”

Startled, he turned towards the sound of the voice and found himself staring at a face he almost did not recognize, if not for the light tone of voice that accompanied it. The person staring back at him with unblinking dark eyes was the same height as he was, but far be it the last he remembered, his friend, Matsumoto Aya, had grown up. Five years and she had physically changed; looking quite willowy with a hint of untamed beauty. However, her physical appearance was tempered with the demeanor she carried. Gone was the cheerful, bright-eyed outlook on her face, only to be replaced by a seemingly aged and sharp look, though her eyes still carried a lightheartedness feeling.

She was dressed in a simple winter kimono that blended quite well with many other women around the area, and her hair was stylized in that of an unmarried young woman from a samurai family. To him, she looked a bit strange, and he wondered if she was in disguise.

“Thinking about it,” he answered, giving her a smile. “It has been a while, has it not, Aya?”

“Too long,” she replied, with the edges of her lips quirked up in the barest hint of a smile. “Do you have some time?”

“A little,” he answered, puzzled.

Before he could further elaborate on his answer, she suddenly took him by his hands and literally dragged him across the rest of the bridge until they arrived at a small guard house shack. Sliding the door open, she stepped in before dropping his hand and gesturing for him to also come in. He rubbed his hands together, hoping to capture some of the warmth that had seeped into them from the contact with hers. He hadn't realized that his fingers were ice-cold until she had wrapped her own around his.

Inside, Souji saw several shinobi, dressed in the dark cloths of their trade, but it was Aya who spoke up, saying, “Do I have permission from the trainers to utilize this samurai as a part of today's activities for the trainees?”

“Name?” one of the trainers curtly asked.

“Okita Souji,” he answered, barely remembering in time to not bow towards any of the shinobi in the guardhouse. While he was all for helping Aya with whatever training needed to be done, he did wish that she had asked him about it before dragging him here.

“Soujirou?” another familiar voice said from inside the guard house and a moment later, another almost-stranger appeared before him, except this time, he recognized the voice and identified it to be Yamazaki Ayumu. Boisterous and full of cheer, it looked like the five years had not changed her demeanor much, though he had to admit, she looked a bit crazier in appearance than she used to. But it was not a bad thing, to have some crazy cheer and life within, especially since it complemented her.

“It is 'Souji' now, Ayumu,” he answered. “I changed my name this past spring.”

“Ah,” his friend replied, but did not say anything else except to give a nod towards one of the other dark-clad person in the guard house.

“Then if you are willing to help us in this exercise, Okita-dono, please leave your bags here for now. Today's exercise is a test for our trainees to identify the correct targets and mark them. Aya is in disguise and needs an accomplice to walk around with her as she evaluates the trainees,” one of the dark-clad shinobi said, the tone of his voice gruff but polite.

“I would be honored to help,” he answered, but a moment later, wondered if his answer should have been worded differently for he saw the shinobi's eyes widen slightly. He pushed the awkward moment away by removing the shinai and practice armor bags he had been carrying and left them on the side, near the entrance. “So what do you need me to do?”

“Just walk around and enjoy the gardens in the winter,” Aya said, gesturing for him to follow her back outside. “And laugh at the trainees if you want, while I make their lives miserable.”

“Aya, that's cruel,” he heard Ayumu shout after them as the door to the guard house closed. Glancing over, he saw that his friend had a mischievous grin on her face, and could not help but laugh.

However, she quickly smoothed the grin into a neutral, calm look and said to him, “In order for this to work, we need to look like we are a couple, enjoying the gardens in the winter. Don't worry, I'll lead you on the questions and you can just answer them at your leisure. My primary job is to ensure that the trainees are blending in as much as possible without me detecting them.”

Souji nearly stopped walking, and it was only because Aya kept walking that he found his feet automatically keeping up. He could feel himself flush red at what was asked of him, feeling a strange swooping feeling in his stomach as a lump formed in his throat, rendering him unable to speak for a few moments. Fortunately, he managed to swallow a few times, but the embarrassment and swooping feeling in his stomach had not died down as he stuttered, “Um...”

“Relax, Souji,” she said, giving him a reassuring smile. “So...anything interesting happen in the past five years since we last met?”

Forcing himself to laugh and get over his sudden and strange nervousness, he answered, “Too much... let me tell you of the three friends that those at the dojo call, 'The Trio'...”

* * *

Ayumu smiled to herself as she watched her young brother, dressed in the simplest of disguises, a young commoner boy, run around with a few other young children. A couple of them were other shinobi trainees, and a few were actual commoner children. They were generally causing chaos around a part of the gardens, but so far, none of the disguised evaluators had paid them any heed. Even a few of the samurai and commoners who were actually here in the gardens to enjoy the sight were shooing the children away.

She wondered if Susumu was truly enjoying himself with the other children or taking the exercise as seriously as she had seen him this morning while getting ready. In a couple of years, he would be graduating from basic training and sent to who knew where to specialize and she worried about the path that he would take.

Even though her brother had not even reached puberty yet, he already had a crush of girls admiring him. More than a few of the young female trainees liked to hang around him, and occasionally, Ayumu saw a pretty young girl from a scribe's family watching him from a distance during open practice sessions. Her brother seemed totally oblivious to the attention he was receiving, but it had not escaped many of the older shinobi's notice, especially their _Okashira_ 's notice.

For those of the Oniwabanshuu, seduction training was not normally given to male shinobi unless there were extremely extenuating circumstances to warrant such a training. With the flock of girls that her brother was attracting now, she was sure that he would be sent to undergo such a training, and that made her uneasy. Would it break him to become so heartless and careless that he would be able to seduce women and discard them without another thought? Or would he become so cold, so wrapped in a shell that the Susumu she knew would never re-emerge?

“Ah, that was quick. Too bad for Takatoshi,” one of her fellow shinobi within the guardhouse muttered while writing a mark down on the paper.

She tore her gaze from her young brother to see that Aya, in disguise, had made a small signal with her hands towards a young woman who had been half-hidden by a parasol. The young woman was Takatoshi, a trainee just six months shy of her fifteenth birth year. The young woman had been standing near a snow-covered tree, admiring it while letting her parasol cover half of her face, allowing a mysterious aura to surround her.

“Takatoshi didn't even notice Aya walking past her,” she commented as she saw the young shinobi give her parasol a few twirled revolutions. A grin worked itself up her lips as she saw the relaxed pace that both Aya and Souji took around the gardens. Though she could clearly see that Souji was enjoying the sight of the snow-covered gardens, Aya seemed to also be enjoying them in his company...while wrecking the lives of the young trainees.

The door to the guardhouse opened, allowing a gust of cold air in, as she saw, out of the corner of her eyes, Matsumoto Sakura, Aya's mother, enter. “Head Trainer,” she, along with the others in the guard house murmured in acknowledgment, keeping their eyes out in the gardens, as the door closed.

Though Sakura still held the title of Head Trainer for the Edo-based Oniwabanshuu, she rarely taught the classes now, having been re-assigned by their _Okashira_ to other duties within the samurai quarters of Edo. Ayumu did not know what duties they were, but she had heard from others that it was very rare to see her now. She wondered if Aya even knew that her mother had managed to find some time today to watch the exercises. However, it was always a treat for them whenever Sakura found time to teach a class or two, for though she pushed them hard, even veterans all learned new things each time she taught them.

“How many have been marked and by whom?” Sakura asked.

“Takatoshi was the most recent one caught,” one of the shinobi answered. “Aya marked her, but Takatoshi did not notice she was there.”

“Ichirou marked both Gin and Kin. Neither noticed him yet.”

“What about the children?”

“Haruka is closing in on them, but I believe that they're just really good at evading detection right now. Best we wait until it gets a little colder and the children start to get tired,” a shinobi answered.

“That's going to take a while,” Ayumu heard Sakura mutter and couldn't help but nod in agreement. A moment later, however, she heard their Head Trainer ask with concern lacing her voice, saying, “Who is that samurai next to Aya?”

“Okita Souji, Head Trainer,” one of the shinobi answered.

When there was no answer from their Head Trainer, Ayumu glanced over to see that Sakura's lips had thinned with displeasure and there was a clear amount of anger in her eyes. She wondered what in that answer was causing the woman to clearly not happy, but did not receive an answer as Sakura curtly said, “After this is over, I forbid any of the Okita family to participate in any of our exercises ever again.”

“Yes, Head Trainer,” the gathered shinobi in the guardhouse, along with Ayumu, murmured in compliance.

“Ayumu,” Sakura barked, causing Ayumu to stiffen in surprise and feel completely like a child again. “Come with me.”

She complied and exited the guardhouse, quietly following Sakura to a private area within the gardens where there was virtually no one around. She knew that Aya's mother was well aware that they were childhood friends with Souji – it puzzled her as to the change of heart. Sakura had never stopped them from being friends with Souji before, so why now?

“You knew that Okita Souji is a high-born samurai and that his family's standing within the Shogunate is very important. Why did you not stop Aya?” Sakura asked.

“I'm sorry, Head Trainer,” she answered, hanging her head slightly, “The family's standing had not crossed my mind.” Was the Okita family being watched _that_ closely by the Shogun?

“There's being discreet, and then there's this,” Sakura said, gesturing to the gardens, full of people. “That young man has a lot of potential and we are the shadows that make sure that potential does not go to waste. The three of you may have been friends when you were children, but you are now all adults and have your own destinies in life. Do not squander it or ruin it for others.”

“I understand, Head Trainer,” she said, nodding. Whatever friendship they all had when they had been young could no longer be had. The gulf in society between Okita Souji and them was too wide for them to be careless about it. She was sure that Aya would understand and even protest it, but she knew that Aya would obey the command. Duty before family or friends – it was the way the Oniwabanshuu operated, and it was how they survived for so long.

She glanced over to see in the distance, that her young brother had finally been marked by the vice-commander of the Edo-based Oniwabanshuu. A strained smile appeared on her face as she watched him pout for a second before going back to running around, trying to identify other disguised shinobi. Duty before family...before friends; she knew what she had to do in order to make sure her own brother survived the coming storm.

* * *

_A few hours later..._

 

“How is the training, Souji?”

“Going well, niisan,” he answered, placing the mug of tea he had sipped earlier back down. With a full stomach and a warm bath that he had taken advantage of as soon as he arrived at home, he felt relaxed and comfortable. “I started to teach some of the newer students in basics about two months ago.”

“Good...good,” his brother-in-law answered. “How is Hijikata-san?”

“He is doing well, considering the circumstances,” Souji truthfully answered, hoping that his voice did not betray the worry he felt for Hijikata. “He left to go care for his ill mother a couple of weeks ago. I do not know when he will return.”

He was worried about Hijikata, for lately, his friend had been missing a lot of practice to attend to his ill mother. He didn't know what was wrong with Hijikata's mother and did not know how to politely inquire about it without appearing to be intrusive. Whenever Hijikata was at practice, Souji could see a worried look in his eyes, and that cause him to be very concerned. Usually, Hijikata sparred with moderation, but whenever he and the older man had sparred, Hijikata seemed to be taking out his frustration on him. It had resulted in bruises on his wrists (even though he had wrist protectors on), where Hijikata had hit harder than usual, but Souji had not brought it up or told anyone about it. He, Souji, had just bound his wrists with more cloth underneath the protectors. If sparring was the only way Hijikata could take out his frustration and pain with whatever was going on at home, then Souji would bear it.

“When you see him next, please pass on my well wishes for his mother's speedy recovery.”

“I will.”

“So, as per our agreement with regards to your training and to this household, I have a task for you to do while you're here,” Rintarou said, setting aside his own mug of tea. Souji quietly waited for his brother-in-law to continue, knowing that the man did not like to be interrupted. “I need you to go visit one of our old trading partners, the Takagi family. I've heard that they've made some profits lately and would like to hear about the results and what they plan to do for the future.”

“I will do that,” he agreed, but sensed that there was something else that Rintarou wanted to address. It was so unlike his brother-in-law to not immediately say his mind, especially since he remembered him being quite exasperated with all of the crazy antics he, Souji, used to pull as a child. “Is there anything else that you would like me to do while I am here, niisan?” he asked, curious.

“Yes,” his brother-in-law said after a moment's pause, as if collecting his thoughts. “Stay away from the shinobi groups.”

“Pardon?”

“I was told that you were helping a group of them in some exercise today,” Rintarou said, folding his hands together over his lap. “Stay away from them. That is an order.”

“What of the one who guards my sister?” he immediately countered, keeping himself as calm as possible. “You ask me to stay away, yet there is one under your employ.”

“There is an ongoing investigation, Souji,” his brother-in-law answered, and he could hear a hint of frustration and anger in his voice. “Until the investigation is complete, that shinobi will be as discreet as possible in protecting Mitsu.”

As much as Souji wanted to fight back with words, he dared not to – he had heard the underlying warning in Rintarou's explanation. He was jeopardizing the safety of his family by openly associating with shinobi and there were many enemies around that could possibly be witness to it. It was also then he realized just how much his brother-in-law was withholding from him with regards to the politics that governed the family. Shame filled him for his careless indiscretion at what he had done today. He was unprepared and not trained to play the 'game', but the least he could do was to do his duty and visit families that they had alliances to.

“I understand, Rintarou-niisan,” he said, bowing, “and I will do ask you ask.”

* * *

_Leagues away from Edo..._

 

“Ah, Ichimura!” the boisterously friendly yet familiar voice called out as he entered the room, before turning a giving a nod of thanks to the young woman who had shown him up to this area.

“Sakamoto! _So good to see you_!” he answered, in a mixture of Japanese and English. He had only learned the phrase 'so good to see you' a week ago from another of his acquaintances in Osaka.  Instead of the usual bowing or greeting that a Japanese person did, Ichimura instead, grinned and waved before taking a seat near the entrance. There was one other person he recognized besides his friend, Sakamoto, but it was good to know that he was not going to be fully amongst strangers here.

Sakamoto Ryouma was the one who introduced him to everyone in the room and vice versa. There were snacks set out before them, along with bottles of sake, but it looked like none of them were eating or drinking, so Ichimura refrained from doing either and instead, settled in to listen to what his friend was going to say. This meeting, held in an indiscreet location, was supposed to be just a gathering of friends, but it was more about the discussion of what was going on in the country and the Shogun's response to the rumblings of unrest happening all over the place.

Though he, Ichimura, lived only in a small farming community and wasn't even considered samurai, he had many acquaintances down in Osaka who had foreign interest at hand, and therefore, had most of the contacts that Sakamoto and the others in the room, including Serizawa and Kitamura, were interested in. Both he and Sakamoto advocated peace and tried to keep the peace within their communities, but with each passing season, it was getting harder.

Zealots like Yoshida Toshimaro of the Choshuu clan, Takechi Hanpeita of the Tosa clan, and others similar to those men, were advocating forcible expulsion of the foreigners. Their voices were the loudest, and there were many in their communities who thought the same. A storm called 'revolution' was brewing and Ichimura could not help but think about battening down the hatches where he and his family lived and hopefully ride it out. He had been trying to impart the importance of being a 'peacemaker' to his sons, Tatsunosuke and Tetsunosuke, but with the clamor of violence, would that lesson hold true?

“I'll be traveling to Edo come the spring,” Serizawa spoke up, bringing Ichimura's thoughts back to the meeting. “For now, things in Aizu still look the same and the lord is supporting whatever the Shogun has decreed.”

“The last time I was in Edo, most of the Chiba dojo had zealots advocating for the expulsion of foreigners. There's very few moderates like us left in there. Good luck trying to find them,” Sakamoto answered, looking a bit depressed.

“I heard in passing that there are a few dojo around Edo that still have people who do not see such extreme ways,” Serizawa said, smiling blandly.

Internally, Ichimura frowned to himself – that smile on Serizawa's face seemed fake, but given that he had only met the tall, muscled man only a few minutes ago, he had no right to pass judgment on him. Still, something within him felt uneasy as he absorbed Serizawa's words.

Pushing the unease aside, Ichimura glanced over at Kitamura – being the closest in terms of locale to him, Kitamura lived with his little brother near Himeiji, and the story near the area was that there were some voices of discontent, but nothing outwardly being shouted on the streets just yet. He knew that Kitamura often left his young brother alone at home to attend these meetings, and though he had tried to convince Kitamura to stop doing it, the man would not, saying that it was vital that he provide as much information to Sakamoto as possible. In his opinion, Kitamura's devotion to providing Sakamoto information about the region's socio-status was interesting, to say the least.

“Ichimura,” he heard Sakamoto call his name, “anything new?”

Shaking his head in the negative, he took a sip of the sake set out before him and watched as others around the room either provide news of what they were going to do to get a better feel of the people's opinions, or write strongly-worded letters to their lords. Fear and unease gripped them, but they were determined to keep the peace, to make sure that war did not break out on either side.

They talked, ate, and drank for another hour or so before the party was broken up, first with Kitamura, who was followed by a slow but steady trickle of people. As soon as it was only him and Sakamoto left, he saw Sakamoto sigh and flop back onto the tatami mat. He knew that he too had to leave soon, for he had promised his wife that he would only be gone for a few days, but for now, it was time to catch up with an old friend.

“Is Takechi-san giving you grief again?” he asked.

“Always,” Sakamoto groused. “But that's not what I need to talk to you about.”

There was an intensity in his friend's stance as Ichimura saw Sakamoto spring up and sit before him, all serious and without a trace of the humor or carefree attitude he usually carried. “One of my friends, Katsura Kogoro of the Choshuu clan, sent me a message a couple of days ago – or rather a warning. A few people both not and of the clan have been targeting who seem to not support _sonno joi_. I know that you don't always see the way we see things, but with the Choshuu clansmen guarding the Emperor in Kyoto, be careful in what you're saying.”

“What do you mean, targeting?” he asked, frowning with great concern.

“Its only rumors, but I've been hearing that there are assassins running around, not only in Kyoto, but also in the countryside; killing anyone who doesn't speak for _sonno joi_ ,” Sakamoto whispered.

Ichimura shook his head, not only at the ridiculousness of the situation, but also in exasperation. “We shouldn't have to fear for our lives if we want to promote neutrality or peace, Sakamoto-san.”

“I know,” his friend answered, but did not look up to meet his eyes, “but sometimes, its better to keep quiet than to draw the ire of the hungry and leashed tiger.”

“Don't worry too much about me, friend,” he said, clapping a hand on Sakamoto's shoulder. “I won't be so reckless as to draw any Choshuu clansman to come to my door and burn my house down.”

 

~*~*~*~


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 4.1**

_The next morning..._

 

“I thank you for taking the time to see me,” Souji politely said after the lord of the house and two young women had comfortably seated themselves. The Takagi family were not the richest of trading families that the Okita family could have made an alliance with, but they were the savviest of families. Each year, despite disasters and strife that gripped the country, the family managed to at least make a moderate amount of profit and balance the books. There was nothing suspicious on their ledgers, and even the Shogun had praised the family's insight and margin for keeping the coffers of the Shogunate above the red line.

Of course, Souji had nearly no idea what most of the terminology that his brother-in-law had told him, meant, but he had enough of an idea to understand that the Takagi family was doing well and that the Okita family wanted to pass on praise. His hurried studying into late last night had yielded him with enough knowledge to hopefully understand whatever Takagi was going to say about future.

“Nonsense,” Lord Takagi said, smiling quite jovially. “We'll always make time for anyone of the Okita family. Please, allow me to introduce you to my daughter, Tokio.” The old lord gestured to a pretty young woman on the cusp of womanhood, sitting to the left of the lord. There was a a shy smile on her face as she gracefully bowed, but Souji noticed that there was a spark of steel in her eyes, as if she was not too happy with being presented in this fashion.

He filed his curiosity away for later contemplation as Takagi continued to say, “This is one of my daughter's friends, Lady Yukishirou Tomoe. She is visiting for the day.”

Souji managed to keep the surprise from appearing on his face as he watched the elegant young woman, who looked no older than Tokio herself, bow. The Yukishirou family were incredibly close to the Shogun – rumors said that they even sometimes had the ear of the Shogun himself. Long ago, back when he still had dreams about being the smartest man and to personally meet the Shogun, news such as this would have delighted him. Now, however, he had other goals in life, and merely gave the requisite smile and nod at Lady Yukishirou's polite bow.

The way of the sword was now his life, however bloody it may be.

“Now, I'm sure that you want to know how our business is going and what we're planning for the future, correct?” Takagi said.

“Yes,” he answered, nodding, “Our family would also like to pass on congratulations on a very good year.”

Lord Takagi enthusiastically nodded, and as tea and a light snack was brought in for them, he began to explain what happened and what the family was going to do from the lessons learned that year. Souji politely listened, but he could tell that Tokio was getting impatient with the talks and did not want to stay. From Lady Yukishirou, she was holding her self quite still and polite – remarkably, even though Tokio fidgeted a little during the course of the talks, Lady Yukishirou had not even moved.

Their talks went on for a few hours until finally, everything was discussed, and Souji had a better idea of what he had been quickly studying last night. Future prospects for the trading family were looking good, even with the unrest in the west. Armed with knowledge that he could competently pass on to his brother-in-law, he said his goodbyes and left.

The walk back to the villa was shorter than he liked, for he reveled in the cold that swept through the place, and at the snow that the wind picked up. The sky was cloudy, but there was no sign that snow was going to fall yet. He was quickly admitted back into his home and ushered into an overly warm room. However, he did not have to wait long for his brother-in-law to arrive.

“So, how was it?” Rintarou asked after warm tea was served to both of them.

Souji explained what Takagi had told him, and when he was finished, he finally took a sip of the tea that had been set to the side.

“What do you think of Takagi's daughter?”

He nearly choked on the tea and coughed as he hurriedly placed it down, trying not to spill what was left of it. So that had been the point of him meeting with Takagi... not only was his brother-in-law asking him to represent the family, but to also fetter out if a potential marriage alliance could be had. Had he known...

“I am only fifteen, niisan,” he stated. “I am barely past the threshold for manhood.”

“Yes, but surely you have opinions. I know that you've been to Edo's flower district at least once since coming of age.”

“Which was, at that time, a celebration only,” he answered. Sure the women at the place where he and others of the dojo had celebrated his coming-of-age were beautiful, but he had not felt a great amount of lust towards the women as others, such as Harada, had. A few people at the dojo had described to him their own feelings whenever they were attracted to a person of the opposite sex. Many said that they felt a sort of nervousness in their stomach, or had a fluttering or swooping feeling. There had been none of those types of feelings when he had been sitting next to the perfumed women, however pleasing to the eye they might have been.

Tokio had not elicited any sort of feelings except for curiosity as to why she disliked sitting in the meeting. Meeting Aya yesterday had initially caused those strange stomach-swooping feelings to surface for the first time, but he had chalked it up to being completely surprised at how much she had changed. No, all he could tell his brother-in-law was the truth.

“She is lovely young woman,” he answered. “Though she might be the only child of the family, I can see that she will inherit the strength and tenacity of her father. She will be quite a formidable woman in the future.”

There was a long pause before his brother-in-law said, “Ah, well...it is good to hear that the family is doing well. Thank you for your hard work, Souji.”

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

 

_You did well in that exercise, Susumu_ , was what she wanted to say to her brother as she saw him run up to her with a silly grin on her face. Steeling herself, she kept the pride off of her face as he stopped before her, his smile instantly turning into a frown of concern.

“What's with that look on your face?” she said, forcing the tone of her voice to be as harsh as possible, all the while trying to bite back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. She had to do this, to break her little brother's heart, in order to make him stronger, more capable than she could ever be. It was the only way she would be able to save him from the line of work that the Oniwabanshuu would likely assign him to.

_Duty before family and friends._

She had begged their  _Okashira_ to allow her to personally train him, and in the end, he had relented...with conditions attached to the training. This was one of them, and for that, she needed both herself and her brother to be strong. She didn't know what the future held, but her gut feeling was that when her brother was finally done with training, he would be sent westward.

“Where the heck do you think you'll find a shinobi that laughs and cries?” she continued to say, berating him. That frown of concern on his face turned into a scared look – she had never yelled at him before and it was frightening him. Still, she pushed on, saying, “Are you going on about being scared and embarrassed again?”

Susumu shook his head no as he adamantly said, “I'm not, neesan! Stop yelling at me!”

“Hurry up and get rid of those feelings,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest, making herself look as angry as possible, even though she wanted to collapse to the ground, hug him, and reassure him that it was for the best that she did this. “There's going to be no one around you. You have to be able to do it all yourself. You're not a samurai. You're a shinobi.”

“Neesan...I know that--”

She swiftly cut him off with a sharp shake of her head. “You don't need to think of me as your big sister. I don't think of you as my kid brother either.”

She could see tears welling up in his eyes as he sniffed and vainly tried to blink them away. “You will be training with me from now on,” she told him. “You'll still attend some group classes, but most of what you'll learn will be from me. You are not my brother and I am not your sister. However, when you've grown up a bit more, you're going to do jobs disguised as me.”

“But...why, Ayumu?” he asked, and her heart nearly broke with the lack of familial honorifics tacked onto her name.

“Because...there's a war coming, Susumu,” she quietly answered. _Even if I should happen to botch a job... even if I die, you can still survive_.

* * *

_A few days later..._

 

Ichimura sniffed the crisp, cold air that swirled on the mountain side, smelling the distinct scent of his wife's cooking as he approached the small hut. As he got closer, he could see his sons playing out in the front, with Tatsunosuke helping Tetsunosuke roll a rather large snowball before lifting it to stack upon an even bigger one. The two boys spotted him and with gleeful shouts, Tetsu ran to him.

“Tatsu, Tetsu,” he said, scooping Tetsu up – he was still young and light enough for him to do that. But for Tatsu, he saw his eldest approach; Tatsu had just come of age this past spring, and his demeanor seemed to have changed. He had seen the change in his eldest from being impatient with Tetsu to a bit more caring. Even though Tatsu's voice was still marked with the squeaks of someone growing to manhood, he definitely had more opinions now...

“Otousan,” Tatsu greeted, before giving him a hug. “Welcome home. Okaasan is in the house, cooking.”

“I can smell that, and it smells good,” he said, letting Tetsu back down who giggled and ran as best as he could through the snow drifts back to the snowperson he had been making.

“How was your trip?” Tatsu asked.

“It was good,” he answered, giving his eldest a wide smile. He did not want to worry his family with Sakamoto's warning, but he could also see that Tatsu would have a good head to help him out on these trips, which seemed to have become more frequent than usual. “How would you like to accompany me next time I go on one?”

“Really?” Tatsu asked, eyes lighting up. “You're going to let me come with you?”

“Yep,” he answered, and despite knowing that his son didn't like it, he ruffled Tatsu's hair. “I met up with a bookkeeper down in Osaka who might be considering taking on an apprentice next year. Since the temple instructors say that you're good with numbers, I thought perhaps you can work for the bookkeeper. You can also meet some of my contacts in Osaka.”

“I don't have to speak English, do I?” his son hesitatingly asked.

The smile on his face died slightly; he knew that Tatsu was never comfortable speaking the foreign language and more than once, had heard him voice his worry about the family speaking too much of a foreign language. He shook his head, hoping that the gesture would reassure him, saying, “No, my son, you won't have to if you're not comfortable.”

“Good,” Tatsu said, nodding quite curtly. “Oh, otousan, that reminds me. A man and a woman stopped by the house while you were gone. The woman introduced herself as Seta Yuna, and stated that you would have an answer with regards to the joining of some sort of organization? She sounded a bit pushy and quite self-important.”

Ichimura stopped dead in his tracks as he narrowed his eyes slightly and frowned. Turning so that he was face-to-face with Tatsu, he asked, “Did she say anything else, mention anyone?”

“She mentioned that they had recently contacted a man named Hiko Seijuurou. Otousan, what's going on? Who are those people?”

“No one you should be concerned about, Tatsu,” he said, hoping that his voice was as reassuring as he could make it. However, his mind was racing; the presence of a man and woman from the organization that he had been trying to evade giving an answer to was not good. The fact that they had recently contacted Hiko Seijuurou was even more worrying. He had thought that Hiko Seijuurou had died several years ago. For contact to have been made meant that perhaps things down the mountain in Kyoto and in the west were moving faster than anticipated. He needed to find a way to get that information to Sakamoto as quickly as possible without the organization knowing.

Placing a arm around his eldest son's shoulder, he steered him back towards the cabinet before waving for Tetsu to join them. As his youngest happily ran up and clutched at his free hand, he breathed in the crisp, cold air to calm his mind. “If they ever show up again, tell them that they are not welcome here anymore.”

 

~*~*~*~


End file.
